Daily Log

Real tired last night, so I went to bed early. Woke up after 9, with 7 hours sleep logged. Dentist yesterday was uneventful. Picked up a gyro on the way home. I didn't do much on the poll yesterday. I ran the cutoff for Music Week, set up my draft blog file, and pulled 8 reviews out to send off to NOEL. I'll probably post the blog Music Week today, as all it needs is an introduction, and I can test some thoughts out there. I did go ahead and set up dummy files for my essays (new and old; I also set up one for critics, which may get folded into new, and notes, which is a place to put research until I decide whether to use it or not). No writing yet, but ideas are coming.

Woke up a bit after 9. Finished reading Doctorow. Very good book. I started with AI Snake Oil, which will probably get into more technical detail, and less into the business/politics (topics that nonetheless will be unavoidable).

Email (41 messages):

• Substack: Music Week (7:2): shareable assets; 3 likes.
• OR Books: Office space like this doesn't come cheap. I wrote them a note, reprinted below.
• Mike Konczal: How I Use AI as a Policy Researcher: HTML Dives, Git Diffs, and Elaborate Rehearsals: Learning git to escape the permanent underclass, and showing up late to the vibe-coded app party with a writer's IDE. I need to go back and study this file. But note that it starts with two general tips for writers, which is to use GitHub for version control, and Markdown for formatting notation.
• Project Syndicate: Worse than War: The Global Costs of Violence (Anke Hoeffler/James D. Fearon); Europe's AI Dolce Vita? (Kenneth Rogoff); 250 Yeares of American State Capitalism (Shang-Jin Wei); How Safe Are Today's Blockbuster Stocks? (Barry Eichengreen).
• TomDispatch: Nick Turse editing now, publishing Tom Engelhardt: A Government of Trump, by Trump, and for Trump.
• Robert Christgau: Consumer Guide, July, 2026.

Here's the note I wrote to OR Books:

Well, as the late Sylvia Kleinman liked to say, "nothing's too good for the working class."

I've bought several of your books direct, but when I can find them, Amazon is just easier, and that matters at my age, and in this age.

Still, occasionally I wonder if you might be interested in publishing some of my writing. You can find a big pile of it here.

Of course, it would be a big job to edit it down, and clean it up. Someone once asked me who our Antonio Gramsci might be, and I volunteered myself. I thought "Prison Notebooks" might work as a title, even if my own prison is just obscurity (and Kansas). Or pick 15-20 nuggets, polish them up as essays, and borrow a Paul Goodman title (maybe just as the subtitle): "Utopian Essays & Practical Proposals"?

Music Week

Expanded blog post, July archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 30 albums, 5 A-list

Music: Current count 46249 [46219] rated (+30), 15 [16] unrated (-1).

New records reviewed this week:

• Josh Berman Trio: Everybody Else's Life Too (2025 [2026], Corbett vs. Dempsey): [bc]: B+(***)
• Seamus Blake: The Electrifying Seamus Blake Plays the Music of Eddie Harris: EH! (2025 [2026], Cellar): [sp]: B+(*)
• Henriette Eilertsen Trio: Moder (2024 [2026], Motvind): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (Exit) Knarr: Fly (2025 [2026], Sauajazz): [bc]: B+(***)
• Hayeminol: Ingen Vår I År (2026, Tarmkyllig): [sp]: B
• Colin Heshmat: Elastic Groove (2026, HMC): [cd]: B+(*) [07-23]
• Jana Horn: Jana Horn (2026, No Quarter): [sp]: B+(**)
• It Was Her Idea: Daughter of War (2025 [2026], PNL): [sp]: B+(*)
• Kirk Knuffke: Brother (2026, SteepleChase): [sp]: B+(***)
• Nicolas Leirtrø's Action Now!: Entrance (2025 [2026], Sauajazz): [bc]: B+(***)
• Camila Nebbia & Chris Corsano: Six or Seven Ways Towards Becoming Undone (2025 [2026], Relative Pitch): [sp]: B+(***)
• Bob Nell & Michael Bisio Trios: We Are Here (2025 [2026], Origin): [cd]: B+(**) [07-24]
• OM: Südpol (2024 [2026], Intakt): [sp]: B+(**)
• Rebecca Rafla: Fundamentally Unfinished (2024-25 [2026], Rebecca Raffla Music): [cd]: B
• Catherine Russell: Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center (2024 [2026], Dot Time): [sp]: B+(***)
• Cécile McLorin Salvant: With Every Breath I Take (2025 [2026], Nonesuch): [sp]: B+(*)
• Sweet Megg: Massive Negroni (2026, self-released): [sp]: B+(**)
• Kalia Vandever: Mana (2026, International Anthem): [sp]: B+(*)
• April Varner: Ella (2025 [2026] Cellar): [sp]: B+(***)
• Karsten Vogel: Late Night Ballads (2026, Storyville): [sp]: B+(*)
• Hein Westgaard & Matt Maneri: Chamber (2024 [2025], Gotta Let It Out): [cd]: A-
• Jack Wright and Ben Bennett: Tourne (2026, self-released): [bc]: A-
• Your Brother's Keeper & Gary Bartz: Where Rivers Meet (2023 [2026], Brownswood): [sp]: B+(***)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Carla Bley: Joyful Noise (Live in Hamburg 1984) (1984 [2026], Moosicus): [sp]: A-
• Marion Brown: Awofofora (1976 [2026], Aguirre): [bc]: B+(***)
• Satoko Fujii: Satoko Fujii's Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra (2014 [2026], Libra, 2CD): [cd]: A- [07-10]
• Wynton Marsalis & Vince Giordano: The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong (2012 [2026], Blue Engine): [sp]: B+(**)
• Mal Waldron & Sam Rivers: Live in Mestre Venezia 1984 (1984 [2025], Caligola): [bc]: A-
• The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong All Stars: A Gift to Pops (2021 [2026], Verve): [sp]: B+(*)

Old music:

• Northwest Improvisers: Fanfares (2022 [2023], Entropy Stereo): [bc]: B+(***)
• April Varner: April (2023 [2024], Cellar): [sp]: B+(**)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Randy Ingram: Sound Within: A Celebration of Bill Evans (Chill Tone) [07-10]
• Owen Lake and the Tragic Loves: Bury Deep My Heart (Carrier) [07-27]
• Bill Scorzari: Sidereal Days (Day 2) (self-released) [09-25]
• WDR Big Band: Jagged Edges & Elegant Lines: The Music of Ayn Inserto (Summit) [08-07]

Daily Log

Got up after 9. Read more from Doctorow, leaving one short chapter on after the inevitable bubble collapse of AI. I'll move on to AI Snake Oil next, which may provide more technical detail on what AI can/cannot do, as Doctorow mostly focused on the business policy, or perhaps the better word is proposition? After that, I'll move on to some more upbeat books. I expect the critiques to mostly confirm my expectations. What's harder to figure out is what good AI might be to my particular work. I spent a good deal of time yesterday hacking out an awk script to pull some data out of my jazz poll tables. In the past I've compiled this data by hand, but now I can find out (instantly, and automatically updated every time new data is added):

• The split between current year (2026) and previous year (2025) releases.
• The split between ranked and unranked ballots.
• How many ballots had empty categories (about 25% of rara avis), and the distribution of short ballots.
• Which albums got votes both as new and rara avis.
• Compare this year's voters against previous years, to generate lists of new voters, returning voters (missed last year, but have voted in last three years), and missing voters (voted last year but not this).

Although I had been thinking I'd learn python for tools like this, I went back to my old standby, awk. However, I had forgotten lots of details, and made tons of coding errors. But I could ask google not just to find manuals but to answer specific questions (like how to check the first letter of a string, or how to get my command line variable recognized in the BEGIN block?). Most of what I do to write a program is to look things up. I'm used to searching through manuals to find bits of information, but this is much easier. I haven't got to the stage of asking AI to write code snippets (which supposedly it excels at, especially for python), but I'm moving towards that. At some point in the next 2-3 months, I figure I'll sign up for some AI package. I'm trying to get my head straight before I do. I don't need AI to write for me, but I could use it for ancillary tasks, and it might be a big help with some of those.

Dentist appointment today at 2, so that will disrupt the day. Weighed myself at 229.8, so that's up and bad. I've been staying within general guidelines (except for big dinners and leftovers; only the slaw remains of the latest latter), but haven't been using the app. I probably should restart that.

Email (25 messages):

• Poll stuff: Ron Wynn and Piotr Orlov promised ballots, but didn't deliver. I wrote them back saying we're done.
• Adam Shatz: tells me his music book, In Search of a Sound, will be published by Farrar Straus and Giroux next year. Offers me "an advance readers copy" in the fall.
• Meet Gemini, your new AI assistant. This is an ominous value proposition. Hopefully one I don't have to think about soon.
• William Marx: "sounds good to me . . . what will be the lengths of the pieces?" I wrote a fairly detailed reply, summarizing my plans, and asking for direction on a couple of points.

Daily Log

Updated the jazz poll website last night, with 125 ballots. I took down the "temporary notice," and moved the reference links to the "Notes" section. Also took a look at the top level index, and fixed a couple of gross typos. I need to do a major redesign of that page, but don't have any good ideas, and I realize that working on website runs the risk of slowing down work on the essay(s). That should be the priority. I did send out a last-gasp round of nag letters, to 8 critics who had voted in last year's mid-year but hadn't acknowledged this year's poll. I got a couple of responses, so the vote total may inch up a bit today, but this is definitely the last day.

Slept badly, getting up multiple times, the last at 9:15. Read Doctorow's chapter about "actually existing AI," which was pretty depressing.

Email (18 messages at 10:00):

• Poll matters: Ballots: Adam Shatz;
• Wichita Public Library: 3 books renewed. I've read Agha & Malley, but still want to quote it for a NOEL post. I've barely scratched the Python and Hawaiian cookbooks, but could still do some things with them. The Hawaiian isn't due until Aug. 7. It has a bunch of grilled dishes, so that might be good for July 19, when Matt & Carrie are coming through.
• Explain It Daily: Hanlon's Razor? I wasn't familiar, so I clicked: It is usually expressed as: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." "Never" sounds too strong for what is basically a statistical argument. While stupidity and its relatives (like ignorance and indifference) is certainly more common, malice (especially as resentment and/or revenge) is not so rare as to be dismissed entirely.
• Google Play: "we're making some changes to our Google Play Terms of Service." All of these points put you even more on the hook for costs and/or liabilities, while allowing Google to extract even more data.

Daily Log

Woke up way too early, but went back to bed, and fell back asleep, which I can tell by waking up from a dream involving Rudy Giuliani (I've never really looked at the back of his head before, and found myself trying to figure out which of the Three Stooges it resembled most), Tony Soprano, shooting wild boar in the suburbs, and falling off a roof, as I was trying to sneak away from those other elements. Read some, and came down just before noon. Took a brief glance at the mail, then decided to work on the jigsaw. I ended up with 122 ballots last night. I had four names who had promised to vote, but hadn't, so I looked up their letters and sent nag replies. As I noted in my jpadmin letter, main thing today will be to take down the voter training wheels from the website, and prepare for presenting the results. I also need to figure out the all of the scoring adjustments and total page footnotes. Then start writing, or at least thinking about writing. I figure I'll do two essays: one with the top-50 new albums, the other on rara avis. I have a vague idea of doing something on critics, but the only real need is to publish the voter list, and I don't want to slow publication down.

Email (38 messages):

• My jpadmin mail.
• Vox memberships: I signed up for their July 4 deal at $30. Renews at $60, but I had little problem quitting last time that happened. Hopefully I can write these expenses off.
• Poll matters: Michael Coyle offered to respond later today; Bridget Arnwine: forgot, so probably not; Nathan Van Wyck offered to look at the voter log file; Ballots: Mark Lomanno.
• Substack matters: +1 subscriber.
• Tom Engelhardt: Donald Trump, Arsonist in Chief: The President From Hell
• Tom Carson: Weekend at Mitch's and Garth's: McConnell and Platner's life support is ebbing

Daily Log

Got up at 9:15. Read some, came down an hour later. Gretchen and Mike came over for leftovers last night, which was lovely until the dog disappeared. Laura had let him into the backyard, then forgot about him, and by the time she looked, he had vanished. This had happened once before, with Sadie, who we found severely overheated, and rushed to the animal hospital. I spent a couple of hours, first walking then driving around the neighborhood. The last 30 minutes Laura joined me in the car. The fireworks were horrible. Perhaps they spooked Hank. They certainly were unnerving for me walking around in still-oppressive heat. When we eventually came back home, Hank was waiting, trying to figure out how to get back into the backyard. He seems ok. Wish I could say the same for us. I cleaned up the kitchen, but didn't do any more poll work. Today is deadline day. Having passed 100 ballots, I'm not feeling too bad. We'll see what today's email brings in.

Email (22 messages):

• Poll matters: Robert Christgau submitted a possible but rather iffy ballot, which he may not want me to use (I'll return to that later); ballots: Britt Robson, Phillip Lutz, Jason Bivins, Fotis Nikolakopoulos, C. Andrew Hovan; changes: John Langhoff; nacks: Tom Staudter.
• Substack matters: Stats for Music Week (7:1): 1 likes, 1 comment (mine), 1 restack, 112 email views + 23 from 4 other sources; later: +1 like. 1 new subscriber (Britt Robson).
• Project Syndicate: The US as the World's Robber Baron (Dani Rodrik); From the American Revolution to Universal Suffrage (Danielle Allen); NATO Needs a Defense Market (Fiona E Murray & Robert Murray "argue that members need more than higher spending to build the industrial capacity they need for deterrence"; this, of course, is bullshit on many levels).

Daily Log

Real tired last night. Woke up real early today, sometime after 7. Tried going back to sleep, but couldn't. Barely logged 4 hours, scoring 80. Came down at 8:15. Dog hasn't even gotten up yet. I expect a long day today with poll stuff, but only 9 emails so far, including a couple left over from last night. Not sure what I'll do if I have nothing to do today. I'm going to start by working on the jigsaw puzzle.

Email (10 messages at 8:22 AM; up to 19 at 10:49):

• Gretchen and Mike are coming over for leftovers tonight.
• Poll stuff: Ballots: Lawrence Donohue-Greene, Ludovico Granvassu, Brad Cohan, Sanford Josephson; Changes: Mimmo Stolfi;
• Substack stuff: Music Week (7:1): +1 like.
• Cadence: 800 words for the 250th annivesary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, by Patrick Hinley: "Today ought to be an occasion for national celebration, but I feel more like I am participating in a nationwide vigil for a seriously ill loved one. The USA has been hijacked by a cult of greasebag grifters, and they are trying to steal far more than just this holiday."
• Tom Carson: The Great American Shark Jumper: Is Freedom 250 our real Independence Day?

Daily Log

Yesterday, we took Rachel to the Wichita Art Museum, where they had a special exhibit of the De La Torre brothers: Mexican glassworks, some in cases behind lenticular screens. I can't say as it particularly appealed to me, but there is a distinctive genius to it, and it seems to me to be quintessentially Mexican. As it happens, we had a friend come over to pick up some jigsaw puzzles. She is Mexican-American, and had just been to the Art Museum. She particularly latched on to the Frida Kahlo puzzles. She's also interested in baseball history, so I gave her my 1985 copy of the Reichler Baseball Encyclopedia.

When we got home, Rachel and Laura watched a couple Steve Martin movies. I caught up a bit on the poll, then warmed up leftovers, also making the missing salad. Rachel went back to Kendra's, and will begin the long drive back to Portland on Friday. We still have a lot of leftovers. I posted a plate pic on Facebook. Not much reaction. Hoping to round some folks up for another leftovers dinner. While I'm too busy to contemplate cooking for a while, unpacking the refrigerator won't take long.

Woke up around 9. Went back to bed, but not to sleep, so I got up and came down at 10:30. I should have a lot of work today, but email is off to a slow start (at least for a Friday: 24 messages):

• Poll stuff: Ballots: Richard Williams, Dan Buskirk, Russell Perry, George Varga; Changes: Bill Milkowski, John Ephland; Nacks: Maciej Nowotny, Troy Dostert. Added jazzpoll subscribers: Russell Perry, Marcello Lorrai.
• Chuck Eddy: Semiquincentennial Minute
• Substack matters: June 2026 stats: 118 subscribers (+12), 629 post reads (+265).
• Tom Engelhardt: Crooked Donald and the Strait of Hormuz
• Walgreens: Rx ready for pickup.
• Phil Overeem: Making His Mark at Maker's
• I posted Music Week (7:1) to Substack: shareable assets; 1 like.

Music Week

Expanded blog post, July archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 28 albums, 5 A-list

Music: Current count 46219 [46191] rated (+28), 16 [14] unrated (+2).

New records reviewed this week:

• Julian Argüelles: Echo Fields (2026, Escapade): [bc]: B+(**)
• Barcelona Art Orchestra & Miguel Zenón: Expressions: Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra (2025 [2026], Miel Music): [sp]: B+(*)
• Patricia Brennan/Sylvie Courvoisier: Talamanti (Antlia): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ron Carter & Yotam Silberstein: Duets (2026, Jojo): [cd]: A-
• Maya De Vitry: All My Faith (2026, Mad Maker Studios): [cd]: A- [07-24]
• Duchess: A Marvelous Party (Anzic) **
• Emperor X: Unified Field (2026, Bar/None): [sp]: B+(**)
• Nick Fraser: Areas (2026, Elastsic): [bc]: B+(*)
• Hannah Gill: I Like the Sunrise (2026, Turtle Bay): [sp]: B+(**)
• Devin Gray/Andrea Parkins/Frank Gratkowski: Hz of Gold (2021 [2026], Rataplan): [bc]: B+(*)
• Alden Hellmuth: Tether (2026, Leiter): [sp]: B+(***)
• The Joymakers: A Texas-Sized Band (2026, Turtle Bay): [sp]: B+(**)
• Goran Kajfeš Subtropic Arkestra: & Avin Omar (2026, We Jazz, EP): [bc]: B+(***)
• La La Lars: Lilla Lars (2026, Gothborgen, EP): [sp]: B+(*)
• James Brandon Lewis Quartet: Omni (2025 [2026], Intakt): [sp]: A-
• Virginia MacDonald: In Search Of . . . (2024 [2026], Cellar): [cd]: B+(***)
• Nduduzo Makhathini: The Myth We Choose (2026, Blue Note): [sp]: B+(*)
• Michael Marcus Quartet: Next Stop Down (2024 [2026], ESP-Disk'): [cd]: B+(***)
• Tal Mashiach: Who's Around? (2026, Anzic): [cd]: B
• Chris Potter: Alive With Ghosts Today (2025 [2026], Edition): [sp]: B+(*)
• Sad Daddy: Ozark Shine (2026, Catfish Music/Free Dirt): [sp]: B+(**)
• Harry Skoler: Echoes (2026, Red Brick Hill): [sp]: B+(**)
• SML: Spontaneous Music Live (2025 [2026], International Anthem): [sp]: A-
• Matthew Stevens: Matthew Stevens (2026, Candid): [sp]: B+(*)
• Soojin Suh: Prism of Existence (2026, Endectomorph Music): [sp]: B+(**)
• Martin Wind: Stars (2025 [2026], Newvelle): [sp]: A-

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Either/Orchestra: Nalbandian L'Ethipien/The Ethiopian [Éthiopiques 32] (2011 [2025], Buda Musique): [sp]: B+(***)
• Evan Parker/Paul Rogers/Louis Moholo: Tebugo (1992 [2025], Jazz in Britain): [bc]: B+(***)

Old music:

• None.

Grade (or other) changes:

• The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis: Deface the Currency (2026, Impulse!): [sp]: [was: B] B+(**)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Colin Heshmat: Elastic Groove (HMC) [07-23]
• Andrew Kim: Lineage (Origin) [07-24]
• Bob Nell & Michael Bisio Trios: We Are Here (Origin) [07-24]
• Rebecca Rafla: Fundamentally Unfinished (Rebecca Raffla Music) [06-22]
• Armand Sangalang: Waypoints (Calligram) [08-07]
• Claudio Scolari Project: Lines of Now (Principal) [04-24]
• Clark Sommers: WaBaSH (Calligram) [08-07]

Daily Log

Woke up before 10. Came down 10:20. I crashed so hard after TV last night that I left a ballot only partly counted. I noted it, saved what I had to the website, but didn't write to jpadmin. I figured I'd start today by catching up. We went to Mark Shepherd's funeral yesterday. It was billed as a car show, and the lot was packed when we got there. So was the mortuary chapel, so they set up an overflow room. Mike and Rachel made it into the main arena, but I retreated to the overflow. I ran into Mac and Brenda on the way there, so we sat together. Saw a couple more people I knew, but not many. Main problem with the overflow was that only the podium had a mic, so the testimonies/stories from the crowd were unintelligible. (Mike gave one, which I could identify by occasionally catching the word "grandpa," referring to Mark's father, Art Shepherd.) Mike decided he wanted to go to the cemetery afterwards. Steve arranged for Mark to get the last plot left in the bloc where Art and Margaret are buried. My mother and father were also buried there, and the tent was set up right over their graves. It's been a good 20 years since I last tried to find them, so I took mental notes of how to do so again — not that I'm likely to return any time soon. I saw Greg Seidel there, and we chatted a bit. During the drive back, Mike and Rachel vented on how much they hated Greg. I've seen him a couple times since moving back to Wichita. Relationship has been testy since he had a big bust-up with Steve & Josi, over what I was never quite certain, but Mike certainly hated him. I've long regarded him as potential trouble, although we got along ok, and were fairly close for a while. He came by after Dad died. I also saw him when I visited Mark in the hospital, after his heart attack and bypass surgery. He looked to be in pretty good shape. Hair was white, rather long, sort of a founding fathers look. Mark had aged more severely, as has Steve, though a bit less than Mark.

We went to Hog Wild after that, then took Mike to the airport, and came home. Rachel was going to watch the World Cup match, but it started later than expected, so she left. I rewarmed some chicken and dumplings, and go to work on the accumulated email. Like I said, I didn't get done. Rachel is coming over around 1 today. Laura wants to take her to the Art Museum. Not sure what else they'll be doing, but I hope to get some time to talk. No plans for dinner. We could go out, or just heat up leftovers. Rachel is driving back tomorrow, so this is the end of the visit. I'll try to work a bit as I can. I'm feeling like putting minimal work into the poll from here on out. I still need to do Music Week this week. Probably do that on Friday.

Email (38 messages):

• Poll stuff: new ballots: John Chacona, Steve Dollar, Bill Milkowski, James Koblin. I updated website and sent mail to jpadmin.
• Substack stuff: 2 new subscribers (Philip Watson, Steve Smith).
• Riot Riot: The 40 Best Albums of 2026 So Far.

Daily Log

Mike and Rachel arrived around 9:30. We went ahead and started eating around 8, with Ram over. We were ready to break into the dessert when they arrived. Two of Mike's friends came over (Mike Carmody and Brian Haney?), but didn't eat much. I didn't do the Native American salad, which wasn't missed. Huge amount of food left over, but everything was very good. I snapped a place pic, but haven't posted it yet. Mike stayed up and talked till 3AM. I got up about 10:30. Mike and Rachel are going to the Beacon for breakfast, then to Mark's house, to secure some furniture that Mark had kept from his and Josi's parents, that Josi wanted. After that, they'll swing by, and I'll go to funeral with them.

Significantly behind on email (49 unread as of 11:43, but 6-10 more opened but still needing attention.

• Poll stuff: new ballots: Will Layman, Bret Saunders, Ralph A. Miriello, Mike Greenblatt, Gene Seymour, John Ephland, Richard Blute, Matthieu Jouan; acks:; nacks: David Adler, Ysi Ortega.
• Substack stuff: After Iran: +1 like; Music Week (6:4): +1 like; new subscriber: RH News (looks like a bot).
• Amazon: four books delivered.
• Project Syndicate Deep Dives: Matt Simonton on Oligarchy's Ancient Origins

Daily Log

Looks like I slipped a day, back on June 22, when I repeated the June 21 header. Mark's funeral is July 1, and today is the day before, so I finally realized that June 29 it is not. I finished reading Agha & Malley last night, so had nothing to read this morning. Just as well I came straight down, around 10:40. Hot, already near 90F. Today I cook. I'll check email for things that need replies, but that's about all I can spare. Dinner time is uncertain. I heard from Mike yesterday that they stopped for dinner in Ogden. That was at 10:07 PM, so an hour earlier in Mountain Time. Assuming they got back in the car and drove to midnight, that might get them to Rock Springs, or maybe a town or two past. When I set out from here, Cheyenne is about as far as I can handle. They may get an earlier start, and will push through to the end, so they'll certainly get here by midnight, but 7PM? Unlikely. Given this, I'm clearly planning on cooking too much.

Here's where we stand, and what I'm looking to do (noting the start I made yesterday):

• Chicken and dumplings: Cut up and boil chicken. Take the chicken out of the stock, and strip the meat off. Mix and roll out dumplings. Boil the stock, and cook the dumplings. Add the chicken back in.
• Ribs: I was planning on a relatively short bake at 350 (Korean recipe, but I could substitute a different glaze). Now I'm leaning toward a slow bake at 250, wrapped in foil, with a Tuscan balsamic glaze. Needs about 2.5 hours in oven. I'm tempted to try a hot oven with convection instead of the broiler for the final touches.
• Green Beans: Snapped. Boil 20 minutes. Fry onion and bacon, and add to skillet.
• Sweet Potatoes: I was thinking Ottolenghi, only with the DeSpain sauce. Now I think I'll just do DeSpain: cubes in a casserole.
• Corn: Oil and grill in cast iron skillet. Make lime-honey-cilantro sauce. Heat it up, and roll the corn in it, to rewarm.
• Baked Beans: Empty cans into casserole dish. Add flavor. Top with bacon. Bake.
• Native American Salad: Roughly based on DeSpain and another recipe, with prickly pear dressing. Use wood bowl. Arugula, plus whatever either recipe calls for: mango, jicama, onion, cotijo (or feta), pecans. I have some pineapple I thought of using. Assemble. Mix dressing, and serve.
• Cabbage Salad: Spanish tapas recipe. I added jicama. Done.
• Cucumber-Yogurt Salad: Iranian recipe plus walnuts. Done.
• Broccoli Salad: Cut up and parboil broccoli. Assemble salad. Mix up dressing, and serve.
• Strawberry Shortcake: Strawberries macerated. Mix up, roll out, stamp out, and bake shortcakes. (I could bake early, or just in time.) Whip cream. Assemble and serve. (Last two steps after dinner.)
• Chocolate-Walnut Tart: Shell partially baked. Mix up filling and bake. Chilled?

Obvious possible scratch from this list is the baked beans. They're no bother, and can be baked ahead of time, but right now they're in the can, and can keep indefinitely. The broccoli, green beans, ribs, sweet potatoes, etc., need to be used. I tried to pick things that could be cooked early then reheated whenever Mike & Rachel arrive. Dumplings can be left in pot and warmed up. 11:30 now, so I have 7.5, maybe 8 hours. Shouldn't be a problem.

Email (28 messages):

• Poll business: I sent jazzpoll reminder out last night. ballots: Akira Saito; ballot changes: Steve Erickson; acks: Devin Leonard, Larry Hollis, Bret Saunders, Mike Greenblatt, Mark Lomanno, Patrick Watson, Matthieu Jouan; nacks: Hannah Edgar, Andrew Gilbert, Matthew Marshall.
• Toyota: Keep your Corolla Hybrid connected. I'm starting to hate this company.
• TomDispatch: A New Home for TomDispatch.
• Tom Engelhardt: Growing Old With Donald Trump.

Slight break at 6:20 PM. Where are we?

• Chicken and dumplings: chicken cooked, separated. Stock ready. Need dumplings.
• Ribs: Slow bake (2.5 hours) done. Balsamic glaze cooking. I'm just letting the ribs cook some more until I'm ready to finish.
• Green Beans: Cooked. Need to do the onion-bacon thing.
• Sweet Potatoes: done.
• Corn: done.
• Baked Beans: scratched.
• Native American Salad: not even started. Scratch?
• Cabbage Salad: done (last night).
• Cucumber-Yogurt Salad: done (last night).
• Broccoli Salad: Broccoli blanched. Need to finish.
• Strawberry Shortcake: Strawberries macerated. Shortcakes baked. Need to whip cream, assemble, and serve.
• Chocolate-Walnut Tart: done.

So next should be making the dumplings. They'll take about 20 minutes to cook. Broccoli salad: need bacon. Ribs: need sauce to finish. Green beans will take 15 minutes. Salad is up in the air. I have lots of stuff for it.

Daily Log

Woke up around 10. Came down at 10:30. Lots of work to do today. I'm in the last chapter of Aghan/Malley, "Tomorrow," and I'm finally getting tired of it. Upshot is that negotiations are impossible because neither side can put aside its history, and if you think the US is the necessary intermediary, you just get more historical baggage that can't be escaped. As I read this, I keep refining my own "solution." It occurs to me now that instead of depending on the agreement and assent of sovereign powers, I'm inclined to present this as a "world judgment," something imposed externally on the Israeli state (to the extent possible, which is to say by means short of war) and the exiled Palestinian people. Israel can choose to comply or can reject the terms, but short of war (which will only worsen their condition) there is nothing they can do about it (assuming the US, Europe, BRICS, etc., play ball, which they should, but getting agreement there will be uphill). Same for the exiled Palestinian people. There will be incentives for compliance, and penalties (albeit generously humane ones) for resistance. Conflict resolution should heal conflicts, not preserve them in amber. I could see writing this up. I doubt that the world will care, but it should. Israel has not just trampled on the human rights of Palestinians. They have worked hard to wreck any possible progress to international justice, law, and order.

Enough of that for now. Less than a week to go on the poll, so I need to send a reminder to jazzpoll. Before I do that, I need to add the names of new voters to the list. I also need to send out the last dozen second-round invites. I had meant to write personal notes, but may forgo them, or at least keep them very short. Doug is coming over to work on lawn today. I also want him to trim some tree limbs. I need to go grocery shopping tonight, and start prep for cooking tomorrow. I keep kicking ideas around. Instead of frying up the cabbage, I may make slaw. I may roast some sweet potatoes. Dessert is up for grabs. I may text some options to Mike and let him pick.

Email (27 messages):

• My note to jpadmin. No reaction.
• Belated Substack: +1 like for After Iran.
• American Dental: canceled Wednesday's appointment; rescheduled for July 8, 2PM. Got confirmation.
• Poll matters: ballots: Michael Steinman; acks:; nacks. I added 10 names to the jazzpoll list.
• Tom Carson: Harper's Ferry DSA: squishy, squirmy kvetching about the DSA vs. Israel; little point in nitpicking when the nits are the point.
• I wrote to jazzpoll.

Daily Log

Warming up. I came down at 10:30, and it was 85F. Got up to 89F yesterday, but will get hotter today, and should be in the upper 90s as far as the forecast goes out. Posted Music Week yesterday. Didn't get much else done. I still have those remaining 2nd round invites to send out. Most are people I want to add personal notes to. Some of them involve voter prospecting, but most seem like they'll need some extra nudging. I have 61 ballots counted. Hope now is for 100. I'll send another notice/reminder to jazzpoll tonight: 7 days left to deadline. Meanwhile, I'm thinking about buying some AI books: Doctorow, for sure; Wright probably; not sure if there are any others. I just did a search for "consumer guide to ai services," and mostly got guides to using AI for customer services. I then tried "ai for writers," and mostly got pieces about "AI Writers." I did find:

• Ilam Padmanabhan: Best AI Writing Tools (May 2026): I Tested 8 AI Writers With Detection Software: Likes Claude and ChatGPT, but picked HaloWrite first. Grammarly came in 6th, as "best for cleanup."

I bit the bullet and ordered three books about AI:

• Cory Doctorow: The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI: Our best guide to how tech business seeks to run and ruin our lives.
• Robert Wright: The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning: I hate the title and its cosmic overtones, which would have been an automatic rejection, but I've been reading him on AI for a couple years now, and I think he's fairly well grounded. I also think AI will be a test of, and will compel changes in, our social values, and I think he's mostly on the right road there.
• Joanna Stern: I Am Not a Robot: My Year of Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything: Unlike the above, this is a new find, one I was particularly inclined to, but one of my biggest problems with AI is thinking of uses for it, so this seems likely to spur (or disparage) such ideas. Also, it's supposed to be funny.

• Arvind Narayanan/Sayash Kapoor: AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can't, and How to Tell the Difference (2024; paperback, 2025, Princeton University Press).

Jill Lepore has a forthcoming book, The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State, which looks interesting and troubling, but can wait (release date August 25). Reminds me I'm overdue for a books post.

Email (15 messages):

• Poll matters: ballots: Ken Dryden, Matthew Crook, Steve Erickson, Joao Esteves da Silva; acks: Joao Esteves da Silva; nacks: Art Lange.
• Project Syndicate: Trump's Un-American Capitalism (Joseph E Stiglitz, on thuggish cronyism); Why Rules-Based Orders Fall (Benn Steil); Trump's March of Folly in Iran (Timothy Snyder); How Trillionaires Are Really Made (Nabil Ahmed, urges every country to learn from how the US political system enabled Elon Musk's rise; but learn what?).

Talked to Mike. He and Rachel are driving tomorrow, hoping to get here Tuesday. I'll make dinner for them. He's flying back Wednesday, so very little time with him. We'll go to funeral at 2PM, then out to early dinner before he leaves. Rachel is driving back Friday. No plans as yet for Thursday. I wanted something I could keep warm for Tuesday dinner, in case they run late. What I've come up with is mostly Mom food, with a couple minor twists:

• Chicken & dumplings: double recipe of the latter.
• A rack of pork ribs, glazed and baked (rub/sauce tbd).
• Green beans with onion and bacon.
• Stir-fried cabbage.
• Pan grilled corn with lime-honey glaze.
• Broccoli salad.
• A Native American salad with arugula, pineapple, and mango.

I should look through that Padma Lakshmi "All American" cookbook for some possible variations. Dessert is still undecided, but the default would be strawberry shortcake, maybe complemented by a chocolate walnut torte? I need to shop tomorrow.

Daily Log

Slept fairly well. Read some, then came down around 11. Had to update Firefox, which had in any case slowed considerably. I wrote most of regular Music Week last night, but didn't post. I did at least get the NOEL version out. Laura wanted to watch Superman (2025) movie, so we did. I watched the TV series growing up (1952-58, so I must have picked it up mid-stream), and I've seen the 1978 film and at least one sequel, but I don't know anything about this "League of Justice" or the other cross-promotions. I never read any of the DC comics, or had much appetite for the movies which have become "blockbuster" staples. Too much action, but the characters are cartoons, so maybe that's all they had to work with.

I'll get Music Week up today, and see where we're at with the poll. I should send the last dribs of 2nd round invites out. Not sure whether to move on to prospecting or do something else. Mark Shepherd's funeral is July 1. Rachel is driving here, as she wants to haul some stuff home. That will be a good opportunity for us to unload some things. Haven't heard from anyone else yet. Had a nice long talk with Thelma last night, and Jan the night before.

Email (21 messages):

• Daily stats for Arafat and Abbas on Violence: 0 likes, 0 comments, 0 restacks, 1 link click, 0 subs, 92 email views, 18 other views. Belated: 1 like.
• I wrote a short update to jpadmin last night.
• NOEL post: Music Week (6:4): shareable assets. Likes: 4; new subscriber: Cadence Magazine Newsletter (David Haney?); daily stats: 4 likes, 1 comment (mine), 98 email views, 20 other views.
• Jazz poll activity: ballots: Ivana Ng, Pete Butchers, Pat Frisco, Ron Hart; acks:; nacks:.
• Robert Wright: What is the "God test"? Explaining the title of my new book on AI.
• Mike Konczal: A Good Housing Bill and Trump's Bad Affordability Politics: "Signing even a symbolic housing bill would buy Trump some breathing room. The ROAD Act is much more substantive than that."

Daily Log

Woke up around 7:30. Read some. Went back to sleep. Got up again at 10:30. Only five hours, but I figured I might as well face the day. And so it goes. New music releases today, which normally inflates my email intake, and this week includes several albums that have already gotten some poll support. I'll try to listen to them as the day passes. We also need to do a grocery run. Still cool, and may rain again. These cold fronts are suppose to pass or dissolve or whatever they do, with temperatures returning to normal next week, which is to say hot. I have 13 second-round invites left in the Drafts folder. Those are ones I thought I might prepend a personal note to. Only two I see as likely voters. I will clear those out today, and wade through the poll mail. I did the cutoff on Music Week last night. I will send the preview out to Substack, and I'll probably put the whole thing up on the blog later today. I may or may not do further prospecting. With 52 ballots counted, and 10 days to go, I'm pretty sure we'll wind up around 100. I think that will be a respectable showing.

Opened file for Music Week (6:4).

Email (57 messages at 11:20):

• I mailed to jpadmin last night: 52 ballots, 343 albums, got a few first-time voters, 10 days to go. I mentioned hoping to learn some python.
• Poll matters: ballots: Tim Larsen, Geoffrey Himes; acks: Bill Milkowski; nacks: John Sharpe.
• Substack: 1 new subscriber (pledged $80).

Music Week

Expanded blog post, June archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 53 albums, 7 A-list

Music: Current count 46191 [46138] rated (+53), 14 [9] unrated (+5).

New records reviewed this week:

• Ben Allison/Steve Cardenas/Ted Nash: Triological (2026, Sunnyside): [sp]: B+(**)
• Thommy Andersson: Shimmering Blue (2026, SteepleChase): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ballister + Luke Stewart: Clocking the Wheel (2025 [2026], Aerophonic): [cd]: A- [07-10]
• Sam Barsh/Mark Guiliana/Keyon Harold: Straight08 (2026, La Reserve): [sp]: B+(**)
• Luciano Biondini/Michel Godard/Lucas Niggli: Fables of Time (2025 [2026], Intakt): [sp]: B+(*)
• Nat Birchall Quartet: Path of Enlightenment (2025 [2026], Ancient Archive of Sound): [bc]: B+(***)
• Nat Birchall: Liberated Sounds (2025, Na Bi): [bc]: B+(***)
• Adam Brodsky: American Epitaph (2026, Permanent): [sp]: A-
• Betty Bryant: Nothin' Better to Do (2026, Bry-Mar Music): [sp]: B+(***)
• Chrome Hill & Dōjō: Free Rangers (2024 [2026], Clean Feed): [bc]: B+(***)
• Emmet Cohen: Universal Truth (2025 [2026], Mack Avenue): [sp]: B+(***)
• Andrés Coll Cosmic Trio: Ride to Heaven (2026, XJAZZ Music): [sp]: B+(**)
• ContraPunctus [Mike McGinnis/Carmen Staaf/Gui Duvignau/Hamir Atwal]: ContraPunctus (2025 [2026], Adhyâropa): [sp]: B+(***)
• Lao Dan Chicago Quartet: Klotski (2024 [2026], Trost): [bc]: B+(**)
• Jesse Davis Quartet: Reflections (2025 [2026], Cellar): [sp]: A-
• Thomas Dollbaum: Birds of Paradise (2026, Dear Life): [sp]: A-
• Neale Eckstein: Build Our Dreams (2026, self-released): [sp]: B+(*)
• Marty Ehrlich: Cartographies of Flight: Lines Set Afloat Towards Hope (2024 [2026], Corbett vs. Dempsey): [bc]: B+(***)
• Fire-Toolz: Lavender Networks (2026, Warp): [sp]: B+(*)
• Vinny Golia Quintet: Angular Momentum (2025 [2026], self-released): [sp]: B+(***)
• Golomb: The Beat Goes On (2025, No Quarter): [sp]: B
• Joy Harjo: Insomnia & Seven Steps to Grace (2026, Smithsonian Folkways): [sp]: B+(***)
• Alexander Hawkins: No Nation but Imagination (2025 [2026], Intakt): [sp]: B+(**)
• Jon Irabagon: Raw Dog (2025 [2026], Corbett vs. Dempsey): [bc]: B+(**)
• KIND: Count (2025, Umland): [bc]: A-
• March to August: Highway 75 (2026, Crisp): [sp]: B+(**)
• Simon Moullier: Ceiba (2025 [2026], Simon Moullier Music): [cd]: B+(***)
• New England Jazz Collaborative: Tributaries (2025 [2026], ACP): [cd]: B+(**) [07-16]
• Pascal Niggenkemper Ensemble Tuvalu: D'Une Rive à L'Autre (2024 [2026], Subran): [bc]: B+(**)
• Nite Bjuti: Minwi (2023 [2026], Intakt): [sp]: B+(**)
• Outer Worlds Jazz Ensemble: The Kármán Line (2026, ATA): [sp]: B+(***)
• Mariam Rezaei/Sakina Abdou/Kobe Van Cauwenberghe: 1984 [I IX VIII IV]: The Forward Process (2025 [2026], Dropa Disc): [bc]: B+(**)
• Jeff Rupert Quartet: Sea Spell (2022 [2026], Rupe Media): [cd]: B+(**) [06-29]
• Olaf Rupp: Berlin Eiskeller (2025-26 [2026], Scatter Archive): [bc]: B+(**)
• Serengeti: Symphony of Psalms (2026, CC King): [sp]: B+(*)
• Skerik: Skerik 061725 (2026, Loosegroove): [sp]: B+(**)
• Colin Stetson/Greg Fox/Trevor Dunn: Nethering (2018 [2026], Envision): [sp]: B+(**)
• Pat Thomas & XT: Strata, Act (Joy Contemporary) (2022 [2026], We Jazz): [bc]: B+(**)
• Udeigwe: Four Lemmas (2026, LU Factors): [sp]: B+(*)
• Joe Webb: Neath Beat (2025 [2026], Edition): [sp]: B+(**)
• Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. 2 (2025 [2026], Blue Note): [sp]: B+(**)
• Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. 3 (2025 [2026], Blue Note): [sp]: B+(**)
• Zen Zadravec: New Paradigm (2026, Marmite): [cd]: B+(*)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Johannes Bauer/Michael Griener/Olaf Rupp: Aufsturz (2007 [2026], Scatter Archive): [bc]: B+(***)
• Pierre Favre Trio: Bird Food (1968, Songs): [sp]: B+(**)
• James Brandon Lewis & Lutosławski Quartet: These Are Soulful Days (2021 [2026], TAO Forms): [sp]: A-
• Tom Raworth & Peter Brötzmann: No Hard Feelings: For Steve Lacy (2005 [2026], Corbett vs. Dempsey): [bc]: B+(***)
• Dick Spottswood & Tompkins Square Present . . . 1925 Songs (1925 [2026], Tompkins Square): [sp]: B+(***)
• Louis Stewart: Joyce Notes (1982 [2026], Livia): [bc]: A-
• Sun Ra: Hidden Fire (1988 [2025], Strut): [sp]: B+(**)

Old music:

• Jan Klare/Wilbert de Joode/Michael Vatcher/Bart Maris [1000]: Played (2008 [2009], Leo): [sp]: B+(***)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• David Ambrosio/Donny McCaslin/Ingrid Jensen/Bruce Barth/Victor Lewis: Civil Disobedience: Blue Note in the Progressive Sixties (Blue Frog) [05-16]
• Ran Blake & Dominique Eade: Roots & Byways (Sunnyside) [07-03]
• Ron Carter & Yotam Silberstein: Duets (Jojo) [06-06]
• Liz Cracchiolo: Just a Girl I'm a Woman (Pacific Coast Jazz) [09-18]
• Kelly Green: Eat Your Greens! (Green Soul) [08-28]
• Virginia MacDonald: In Search Of . . . (Cellar) [05-29]
• Tal Mashiach: Who's Around? (Anzic) [06-26]
• Simon Moullier: Ceiba (Simon Moullier Music) [04-24]
• Tom Ricci: Happening in Buenos Aires: Live at Borges 1975 (self-released) [06-20]

Daily Log

Got up early. Started reading the "Apocalypse" chapter in Agha & Malley. That will be good for a second post. Came down just after 10. Opened the front door to get the mail, and was greeted by thunder. A few minutes later, it's raining. Very dark. I put on a promo album (Jeff Rupert), and sent off some 2nd round invites. 61 left to go.

Just before 6PM, I posted my Israel piece: Arafat and Abbas on Violence. Now I can finally get back to poll work. I expect I'll do the Music Week cutoff this evening, then post a piece tomorrow.

Email (28 messages; 60 messages by 6PM):

• Poll: Ballots: Matteo Gabutti, Glenn Kenny, Lawrence Peryer, George Harris, Richard Gehr, Steve Smith, Rick Anderson; Ack: George Varga, Bridget Arnwine; Nack: Glenn Astarita, Gary Chapin, Hank Shteamer, Bill Shoemaker;
• Dentist appointment: Wednesday, July 1, 2PM
• Tom Engelhardt: Addicted to War?
• Tom Carson: Release the Kramden: Foreign leaders vis-a-vis Trump: No hill of beans to die on.
• Got my Substack post: Arafat and Abbas on Violence. Also shareable assets; 1 new subscriber.

Daily Log

Slept until well after 11, coming down after noon. Lots to do today, starting with email, but also trying to wrap up the Substack post I started yesterday. After much hand-editing, I did manage to get a CSV file that MailMerge would work with. (It was the bad CSV file that caused the message to be dropped, which caused the program to hang, but the program offered little help in diagnosing that.) I wound up generating 250 messages. I had the pile reduced to 194 last night, and will take short breaks throughout the day today to send out more.

I heard that Mark Shepherd died yesterday. I figure him as a brother-in-law: he is the brother of my brother's wife. He grew up a block away from our house (less as the crow flies: one block east on Market, a bit closer to Kincaid than we were. He was my brother's age, so 2-3 years younger than me. They were classmates and friends long before my brother started dating his younger sister. Steve and Josi have been married over 50 years now. I knew his parents, Art and Margaret, pretty well, and also his "Uncle Junior." Art and Junior were great talkers. Mark, like his father, worked at Boeing until he dropped. We were never close friends, and he never made the effort to get together when Steve & Josi came back to Wichita, although he was always invited. His major interest was in restoring old cars, and he knew a lot about auto mechanics. He was married for a while to a Paula, and they had three kids (one or two his, I'm not sure). I've met them all, but not often, and not at any depth. They all could be tagged as "white trash." The marriage didn't last long, but the kids did, and Steve's family kept in touch. Josi was very close to Mark. Mark died suddenly, like their mother. Josi is suffering from kidney failure, like their father, although for now we're hoping for a transplant. Unclear whether they will be able to come back for the funeral, although I imagine they'll make every effort. Steve says Mike and Rachel are coming, so we'll be seeing them.

Email (43 messages at 12:27):

• Poll news: Ballots: Derek Taylor, Mimmo Stolfi, Paul Acquaro; acks: John Chacona, Philip Booth, Michael Coyle, David Graham, Chris Monsen, Britt Robson, Josh Langhoff, Michjael Steinman, Pat Frisco; nacks: Peter Margasak; invited Ferruccio Martinotti (ack).
• Andrey Henkin sent in a list of names to consider adding to the RIP list. Most are non-jazz, and I'm not immediately impressed by many, but will revisit this later.
• John Moore asked about including a 09-11 scheduled release. I advised against it, but didn't rule against it.

Daily Log

Came down just before noon. Read some in Tomorrow Is Yesterday, including a passage about violence that I may write up for Substack (p. 110). The book so far is mostly about the demise of the "two-state solution." I'm not sure I ever thought it was a good idea, but like the authors, I figured it was worth a shot, as probably better than whatever you call its alternative, perhaps "one state with dissidents locked in a choke hold"? But what's long been clear to me is that the only reason for two states is the realization that the Israelis are too bigoted and too colonial-minded to long tolerate the presence of Palestinians in their midst. It's hard to get excited about anything that reinforces and institutionalizes racism. America's system of Indian reservations is a "two-state" example, which only shows its racist foundation, its cruel indifference, and the possible value of apartheid as a cooling-off alternative to continued conflict. Of course, demography made the option less practical for Israel, but also the intensity of anti-Indian hatred in the US had abated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, at least compared to Israel today. But I was quite aware that partition was a thoroughly British idea, which had worked atrociously everywhere it was applied. The idea only became palatable post-facto: Israel created it in the 1948 war, then locked it in even after the borders changed in 1967. But Israel's refusal to grant Palestinians any kind of recognition made the idea useless to them henceforth, although it still seemed to amuse the Americans, and by then some Palestinians were beaten so badly they were willing to settle for scraps. Others, of course, were still defiant, which suited Israel even better.

Cool again today: 71F when I came down. I weighed myself at 224.8, which is steady from a week ago, but I should do better. I posted After Iran last night. Then I started working on voter-log, adding in the extra names I had accumulated from past years. I added 117 names to the "other prospective voters" section, which leaves me another 167 to go (possibly a bit less). I'll continue working on that today. The other thing I did was to export csv files from my Thunderbird address book. I can use them in lieu of the address book(s) for MailMerge, and they have the advantage of being editable (once I figure out the format, but I only really need the display name and address fields, which I can identify from my dump; virtually all of the other fields are empty). My plan is to drop out the people I have heard from, maybe add a few new names, run a batch of short invite letters, and start mailing them out. Good chance I'll get that done today, if I don't waste too much time on Substack, or wind up swamped with ballots to count. Should be a full day.

Playing a new promo CD for the first time this week. I still have unpacking to do from last week. I'll think about Music Week tomorrow or the next day.

Email (51 messages):

• My Substack post "After Iran": shareable assets; nothing else: stats report shows 0 likes, 0 comments, 0 shares, 0 whatever the other icon means, 111 views via email, 19 from other sources. I saw this just after starting a new one on Israel. Little chance that will be better received.
• My jpadmin update from last night. No direct response as yet.
• Mike Konczal: Kevin Warsh's Press Conference Collides Into 30 Years of Michael Woodford: The new Fed chair argued that the Fed should stop reflecting markets back at themselves. Forgotten debates show how this leads to confusing, indeterminate results.
• Howard Mandel sent me a copy of the JJA newsletter, which has a link the poll website and a voter nudge.
• Heard back from Vox. After I accepted their renewal offer, they canceled the subscription anyway. Supposedly I now have to "re-subscribe to the plan of your choice. After resubscribe please write back to us to avail the offer." I have better things to do today.
• Wichita Public Library: 2 books renewed (Tomorrow Is Yesterday and Python Automation for Dummies. The Hawaiian cookbook was a four-week checkout, so all three are now due July 10. I'm about half way through Aghan/Malley, and have read the Python chapter on email, which I need to try out. The Hawaiian should be good for a birthday type dinner, but I haven't had time to organize one, and may not. Laura suggested I order the book, and save it for later.
• New ballots: Rob Shepherd, Michael J. West, Richard B. Kamins, Ali Alizadeh.
• RiotRiot: The Best Rock Band of Every Year

Daily Log

Monday. One thing I don't have to do today is Music Week. I started writing on the Iran War MoA last night. Didn't quite finish, so I'll wrap that up today, fairly quickly I hope. Then back to the poll. Came down at 11. It rained again last night, and is pretty cool out: 64F. I should finally drag some stuff back down from the attic. I'm going to leave it for the fall. Out of sight, out of mind. Next step on the poll is to generate a second round of invites. That's probably just the names we already know about. I have 31 ballots counted, and at least 2 more in the inbox. Good chance if I do nothing more we'll wind up around 80. That would suffice. I doubt anything can move the line much above 100. Playing Houston Person. I haven't played any promo CDs since Laura burst my bubble. I still have a lot of unpacking to do. Jigsaw puzzle is an easy one, going very fast. If not today, should be done tomorrow.

Email (23 messages):

• Ballots: Stuart Broomer, Martin Schray.
• Poll question: Rob Shepherd.
• Tom Engelhardt: The American Way of War, War, War.
• 577 Recods: downloaded Onilu: Jakuta's Dance.
• My Substack piece: After Iran.

Daily Log

Didn't get to this until 12:45, as I've worked on puzzle and played Horace Silver and only now have finally gotten to breakfast. It took me all of yesterday to catch up with the ballots, so I won't be complaining about lack of response any time soon. I need to prepare a second round, based on my Thunderbird address books. I'll probably get to that today, but I'm thinking about writing on Iran first. Hopefully just a brief note on the deal and those discontented with it.

Email (16 messages):

• I wrote to jpadmin last night, after updating website.
• Poll response: New ballots: Jerome Wilson
• Tony Overwater: I seem to be subscribed to his Substack. Looks to me like it's written in Dutch (although not knowing any, it's hard to be sure).
• Project Syndicate: The Strategic Logic of the AI Arms Race (Charles Ferguson says that Iran and Ukraine herald an era in which autonomous weapons determine how wars are fought and won; but if you start from the realization that wars cannot be won, that "winning" is only some sick rendering of relative losses, it should be obvious that all that AI-based autonomous weapons can do is to speed up the damage and make it harder to control); The US-Iran Agreement Is a First Step (Mohammed A El-Erian); Every British Prime Minister's Nightmare (Yanis Varoufakis on the bond market); The Middle East's New Normal (Don Aviv: without a clear US endgame in Iran, Gulf countries will chart their own course); Peace With Iran Is All About Lebanon Now (Shlomo Ben-Ami); Questioning the Just War Doctrine (Richard Haass).
• Semipop Life: main record I haven't heard: Donnacha Dennehy/Alarm Will Sound: Land of Winter

Several people noted that they received my latest jazzpoll mailing, but not the previous invite. I found a "spammyness tester" and sent them the email, getting back test results: Overall score 9.9/10 ("Wow! Perfect, you can send"). It does note that "Your message could be improved" and "SpamAssassin thinks you can improve: 0.1"; also notes that "You're properly authenticated; You're not blocklisted; No broken links."

Looking into the SpamAssassin report shows the following demerits:

• -0.1: DKIM_SIGNED: Message has a DKIM or DK signature, not necessarily valid.
• -0.25: FREEMAIL_ENVFROM_END_DIGIT: Envelope-from freemail username ends in digit (this seems to be a complaint about "thull2")
• -0.001: FREEMAIL_FROM: You're sending from a free email account
• -0.0001: HTML_MESSAGE: HTML included in message
• -0.001: RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_H2: Average reputation (+2) 66.163.187.147 listed in wl.mailspike.net (note that IP address is not the same as for hullworks.net: 104.36.230.101
• -0.001: SPF: HELO does not publish an SPF Record (but sender matches SPF record; "Your SPF is valid")

Notes under "Your message could be improved":

• Weight of the HTML version of your message: 6KB.
• Your message contains 90% of text.
• You have no images; your content is safe; we didn't find any short URLs.
• Complains that: Your message does not contain a List-Unsubscribe header. (The actual headers sent by Mailman do include List-Id, List-Help, List-Unsubscribe, List-Subscribe, List-Post, and List-Archive, so this should not be a problem. The headers also include X-Spam-* headers, with a -Status of "No, score=1.3" and a -Score of 13.)

Daily Log

I started reading Hussein Agha and Robert Malley's Tomorrow Is Yesterday: Life, Death, and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine yesterday. It's going pretty easy, especially after the redundancies and misconceptions of Friedländer — and for that matter, of Bartov and Scheindlin, which have mostly convinced me that even the best of Israelis are trapped in their own bizarro imaginary worlds. The Agha/Malley book is offering a perfectly sober history of the "two-state" idea, showing that its currency within Israel/Palestine was never more than tactical, and rarely even that, as it was mostly directed at outsiders. I've long been aware of that. But there is one thing in the book so far that is distinctly new to me, which is Agha's deep (but not uncritical) understanding of Arafat. This makes sense to me, although I can't say as I've ever tried to articulate it. I suppose that the one thought I had was that Arafat, with his roots in the refugee communities, could never bring himself to sacrifice their interests, even though there was never any chance that Israel would agree to their return, so that remained a sticking point throughout the Oslo negotiations.

Slept better. Came down around 11:30. I sent out a letter to jazzpoll last night, and seem to have shaken the tree and gotten some response. More on that when we get to email. After a day at 102F, it cooled off and peaked at 69F the next day. Warmer yesterday, and warmer still today, although still pleasant. I've read a bit on the Iran MoA, and generally like what I see. I don't trust Trump to deliver, but now is not the time to attack him for taking his best available exit ramp. There will be lot of time for recriminations later (closer to election time), when hopefully the focus will be not on the deal but on the blunder of starting the war in the first place. Not sure if I will find time to write this up, as I have more poll work to do today.

Email (25 messages):

• Responses to my jazzpoll missive: acks: Stuart Broomer, Ken Dryden, Steve Erickson, Howard Mandel, Rick Mitchell, Joe Bebco; nacks: Marcela Breton, Dylan Hicks, Stuart Kremsky, John Pietaro ballots: Tim Niland (confirms gmail spam), Phil Freeman, Jeffrey St. Clair, Angela Ballhorn;
• Notes on Everyday Life: new subscriber (Glen Hadwen)
• Tompkins Square: gave me a link to their 1925 booklet.
• Tom Carson: Close Encounters of the Third Reich: 2025's Nuremberg, 2026's Pressure, and other movies I shoulda been/was the ideal audience for.
• Paper Politic: another newsletter I didn't subscribe to, but here it is.

I tried posting my Louis Stewart review on Notes, then linked to it from Bluesky. When I clicked on the link, I got mine followed by a lot of other Notes. One that struck me was from Margo Price: "Real songwriters don't need AI to write songs- we simply use our undiagnosed clinical depression, neurodivergence and childhood trauma instead."

Mar 2001